Roller Derby League holds first local skirmish at Delaney

What started out as a way to get exercise and meet new people became a new way of life, say league members.

Members of the Thunder Bay Roller Derby League held their first skirmish at Delaney Arena Saturday. Members of the local league, and a few out of town players, paired off to battle: Westfort vs. Port Arthur.

However, before the game took place the players trained at a boot camp and went over some important pointers including strategies and proper hitting.

Judy Roche, spokesperson for the Thunder Bay Roller Derby and member of the Babes of Thunder, said she moved to Thunder Bay about two years ago and wanted to make some friends in the city. Her cousin in London had played in a roller derby league before so she said she wanted to try it.

"What better way to make some friends," Roche said. "I don’t like hanging out with women because women are very catty. They can drive you crazy. But this is a great group of women who are like minded."

The all-female league formed in November 2008. Members met four times a week to practice their skating skills and to improve their performance. Popular in the 70s, roller derby is a mix of hockey and football where one team tries to score points while traveling in a circle, she said.

The game requires both teams to play defensive and offensive with five players on the rink. A scorer known as a "jammer" tries to score points and avoid the three "blockers" while a "pivot" roams and can became a blocker or jammer depending on the situation.

Roche said they take the sport very seriously and try to debunk some of the myths about the game. The destruction associated with roller derby was unfounded and while she didn’t question the sports legitimacy, not everyone shared that view, she said.

"It’s going to take some time to make it a credible sport to other people," she said. "The more people know about the sport the more people won’t think we just destroy."

The biggest obstacle for playing, she said was getting proper venues to let them skate. In the winter, the rinks are iced over, so it’s difficult to find a place to practice and play, she said.

Brandy Pulice joined the league a year and a half ago. Always interested in sports, she said she had figured skated for 13 years and played some baseball but never played anything has intense or physical as in roller derby.

"Its taken over my life," Pulice said. "I was creeping it on the net and when I saw Judy’s post online I was all over it. It’s good times and good people and not as violent as people make it out to be."

Pulice and two other players traveled to Edmonton. for a three day training camp by profession roller derby coaches. The experience was intense and opened her eyes that she and the other players needed to step up their game, she said.

Returning home, she and the other players that attended the training camp tried to pass on that knowledge at the boot camp on Saturday. She said players needed to know how to hit properly to avoid injuries and practice new strategies.

"You’re going to get hurt — it happens," she said. "There are ways to prevent that."